Neven Sesardic
Encyclopedia
Neven Sesardić is a Croatian philosopher who has argued in favor of biological interpretations of the concept of race and against same-sex marriage
.
From 1977–83 he worked as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb
, and, from then, until 1989 he was Assistant Professor at the same university. From 1989 to 1991 he was Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
at the University of Giessen
. From 1991 to 1992 he worked as a Fellow of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld. The following two years (1992–94) he spent as an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb. The following academic year, 1994–1995, he worked as a Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame
, while the following year (1995–96) he became an NSF
Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota
. Following that, in 1996 he became Professor of Philosophy at the Miyazaki International College
, Japan, where he worked until 1999 when he was appointed Research Fellow at King's College London
. From 2000 until this year (2006) he worked as an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Lingnan University
, Hong Kong. Today, he is Professor of Philosophy at the Lingnan University.
He is a member of the American Philosophical Association
(APA), the Croatian Philosophical Association and the Philosophy of Science Association
.
During his academic career he has taught courses in Philosophy of Science
, Philosophy of Mind
, Logic
, Probability and Scientific Method, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, Critical Thinking, Introduction to Philosophy of Science and Social Science, Theory of Knowledge, Introduction to Philosophy, Morality and Evolution, Science and Society, Genetics and Psychology, Philosophy and Environmental Issues, and Ethics
.
greatly exaggerate in claiming that the explanation of human behavior
in terms of genes
is faced with methodological problems and flaws. He says (Sesardic 1993: 396): "They reject the idea that heritability
estimates could lead to genetic explanations by pointing out that these estimates are strictly valid only for a given population and that they are exposed to the irremovable confounding effects of genotype
-environment interaction and genotype
-environment correlation".
of race and IQ
, which is, according to them, based on methodological flaws, is ill-founded. According to him the prevalence of this view among philosophers of science is based on the gap between them and the experimental scientists. Sesardic argues (Sesardic 2000: 580): "[...] the discussion in philosophy of science about these matters is largely disconnected from the real, empirically complex issues debated in science
."
can still provide a well-founded causal explanation, since genetic differences can lead to their visible effects either directly or indirectly. In his words (Sesardic 2003: 1002): "Genetic differences can lead to phenotypic differences either directly or indirectly (via causing differences in external environments, which then affect phenotype). This possibility of genetic effects being mediated by environmental influences is often used by scientists and philosophers to argue that heritability
is not a very helpful causal or explanatory notion."
Making Sense of Heritability, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. (ISBN 0-521-82818-X)
Marxian Utopia? (with Domenico Settembrini), London: CRCE, 1985. (ISBN 0-948027-01-0)
Articles
"Race: a social destruction of a biological concept", Biology and Philosophy
“Sudden Infant Death or Murder? A Royal Confusion about Probabilities“, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2007 58(2):299-329
“From Genes to Incest Taboos: The Crucial Step”, in W. H. Durham & A. P. Wolf (eds.), Incest, Inbreeding, and the Incest Taboo:
The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004, 109-120.
"Heritability and Indirect Causation", Philosophy of Science 70 (2003), 1002-1014.
“Evolution of Human Jealousy: A Just-So Story or a Just-So Criticism?", Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 33 (2003), 427-443.
“Philosophy of Science that Ignores Science: Race, IQ and Heritability”, Philosophy of Science 67 (2000), pp. 580–602.
“Altruism”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 50 (1999), pp. 457–466.
“From Biological Inhibitions to Cultural Prohibitions: How Not to Refute Edward Westermarck”, Biology and Philosophy 13, (1998), pp. 413–426.
“Reductionism and Supervenience”, in P. Weingart et al. (eds.), Human by Nature: Between Biology and Social Sciences.
Mahwah, N. J.: Erlbaum, 1997.
“Recent Work on Human Altruism and Evolution”, Ethics 106 (1995), pp. 328–357.
“Heritability and Causality”, Philosophy of Science 60 (1993), pp. 396–418.
“Egalitarianism and Natural Lottery”, Public Affairs Quarterly 7 (1993), pp. 47–59.
“Clock Paradox Lost in Space”, Philosophia Naturalis 30 (1993), pp. 72–83.
Book Reviews
Book review of D. J. Bartholomew, Measuring Intelligence: Facts and Fallacies, Intelligence 33 (2005), pp. 325–327.
Book review of N. Zack, Philosophy of Science and Race, Philosophy of Science 70 (2003), pp. 447–449.
Book review of P. Danielson (ed.), Modeling Rationality, Morality and Evolution, Ethics 113 (2003), pp. 402–405.
," when properly understood, actually accords quite well with our common-sense etiological ascriptions. (Heritability and Indirect Causation, p. 1004)
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
.
Life and career
The beginning of his academic career was marked by continuous polemics with Marxist philosophers, who were dominant in the Croatian academic circles at that time.From 1977–83 he worked as a lecturer at the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
, and, from then, until 1989 he was Assistant Professor at the same university. From 1989 to 1991 he was Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a foundation set-up by the government of the Federal Republic and funded by the German Foreign Office, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and others for the promotion of international co-operation...
at the University of Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
. From 1991 to 1992 he worked as a Fellow of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Bielefeld. The following two years (1992–94) he spent as an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Zagreb. The following academic year, 1994–1995, he worked as a Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, while the following year (1995–96) he became an NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. Following that, in 1996 he became Professor of Philosophy at the Miyazaki International College
Miyazaki International College
is a private university in Kiyotake, Miyazaki, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1939, and it was chartered as a junior women's college in 1965. In 1994, it became a co-ed four-year college and adopted the present name.-External links:*...
, Japan, where he worked until 1999 when he was appointed Research Fellow at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. From 2000 until this year (2006) he worked as an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Lingnan University
Lingnan University
Lingnan University can refer to two separate establishments:*Lingnan University - a university in Hong Kong*Lingnan University - a university in Guangzhou, Guangdong province in China...
, Hong Kong. Today, he is Professor of Philosophy at the Lingnan University.
He is a member of the American Philosophical Association
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly activity in philosophy, to facilitate the professional work...
(APA), the Croatian Philosophical Association and the Philosophy of Science Association
Philosophy of Science Association
The Philosophy of Science Association is an academic organization which promotes further studies and free discussion from diverse standpoints in the field of philosophy of science....
.
During his academic career he has taught courses in Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, Philosophy of Mind
Philosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
, Logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, Probability and Scientific Method, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, Critical Thinking, Introduction to Philosophy of Science and Social Science, Theory of Knowledge, Introduction to Philosophy, Morality and Evolution, Science and Society, Genetics and Psychology, Philosophy and Environmental Issues, and Ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
.
Heritability and Causality
In his first article, Heritability and Causality (Sesardic 1993), Sesardic argues that the environmentalist criticism of hereditarianismHereditarianism
Hereditarianism is the doctrine or school of thought that heredity plays a significant role in determining human nature and character traits, such as intelligence and personality. Hereditarians believe in the power of genetics to explain human character traits and solve human social and political...
greatly exaggerate in claiming that the explanation of human behavior
Human behavior
Human behavior refers to the range of behaviors exhibited by humans and which are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics....
in terms of genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
is faced with methodological problems and flaws. He says (Sesardic 1993: 396): "They reject the idea that heritability
Heritability
The Heritability of a population is the proportion of observable differences between individuals that is due to genetic differences. Factors including genetics, environment and random chance can all contribute to the variation between individuals in their observable characteristics...
estimates could lead to genetic explanations by pointing out that these estimates are strictly valid only for a given population and that they are exposed to the irremovable confounding effects of genotype
Genotype
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration...
-environment interaction and genotype
Genotype
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration...
-environment correlation".
Philosophy of Science that Ignores Science: Race, IQ and Heritability
In his article Philosophy of Science that Ignores Science: Race, IQ and Heritability Sesardic argues that the rejection of most philosophers of the connection between the heritabilityHeritability
The Heritability of a population is the proportion of observable differences between individuals that is due to genetic differences. Factors including genetics, environment and random chance can all contribute to the variation between individuals in their observable characteristics...
of race and IQ
Intelligence quotient
An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. When modern IQ tests are constructed, the mean score within an age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation to 15...
, which is, according to them, based on methodological flaws, is ill-founded. According to him the prevalence of this view among philosophers of science is based on the gap between them and the experimental scientists. Sesardic argues (Sesardic 2000: 580): "[...] the discussion in philosophy of science about these matters is largely disconnected from the real, empirically complex issues debated in science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
."
Heritability and Indirect Causation
In his 2003 article, Heritability and Indirect Causation Sesardic argues that in spite of the possibility of genetic effects being changed by the environmental influences, heritabilityHeritability
The Heritability of a population is the proportion of observable differences between individuals that is due to genetic differences. Factors including genetics, environment and random chance can all contribute to the variation between individuals in their observable characteristics...
can still provide a well-founded causal explanation, since genetic differences can lead to their visible effects either directly or indirectly. In his words (Sesardic 2003: 1002): "Genetic differences can lead to phenotypic differences either directly or indirectly (via causing differences in external environments, which then affect phenotype). This possibility of genetic effects being mediated by environmental influences is often used by scientists and philosophers to argue that heritability
Heritability
The Heritability of a population is the proportion of observable differences between individuals that is due to genetic differences. Factors including genetics, environment and random chance can all contribute to the variation between individuals in their observable characteristics...
is not a very helpful causal or explanatory notion."
Same sex marriage
In his 2007 article Homosexual marriage: The Victory of Political Correctness and Bad Arguments he argues that the conservative arguments against homosexual marriage are not actually damaged by the most frequent liberal critiques against them.Publications
BooksMaking Sense of Heritability, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. (ISBN 0-521-82818-X)
Marxian Utopia? (with Domenico Settembrini), London: CRCE, 1985. (ISBN 0-948027-01-0)
Articles
"Race: a social destruction of a biological concept", Biology and Philosophy
“Sudden Infant Death or Murder? A Royal Confusion about Probabilities“, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2007 58(2):299-329
“From Genes to Incest Taboos: The Crucial Step”, in W. H. Durham & A. P. Wolf (eds.), Incest, Inbreeding, and the Incest Taboo:
The State of Knowledge at the Turn of the Century, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004, 109-120.
"Heritability and Indirect Causation", Philosophy of Science 70 (2003), 1002-1014.
“Evolution of Human Jealousy: A Just-So Story or a Just-So Criticism?", Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 33 (2003), 427-443.
“Philosophy of Science that Ignores Science: Race, IQ and Heritability”, Philosophy of Science 67 (2000), pp. 580–602.
“Altruism”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 50 (1999), pp. 457–466.
“From Biological Inhibitions to Cultural Prohibitions: How Not to Refute Edward Westermarck”, Biology and Philosophy 13, (1998), pp. 413–426.
“Reductionism and Supervenience”, in P. Weingart et al. (eds.), Human by Nature: Between Biology and Social Sciences.
Mahwah, N. J.: Erlbaum, 1997.
“Recent Work on Human Altruism and Evolution”, Ethics 106 (1995), pp. 328–357.
“Heritability and Causality”, Philosophy of Science 60 (1993), pp. 396–418.
“Egalitarianism and Natural Lottery”, Public Affairs Quarterly 7 (1993), pp. 47–59.
“Clock Paradox Lost in Space”, Philosophia Naturalis 30 (1993), pp. 72–83.
Book Reviews
Book review of D. J. Bartholomew, Measuring Intelligence: Facts and Fallacies, Intelligence 33 (2005), pp. 325–327.
Book review of N. Zack, Philosophy of Science and Race, Philosophy of Science 70 (2003), pp. 447–449.
Book review of P. Danielson (ed.), Modeling Rationality, Morality and Evolution, Ethics 113 (2003), pp. 402–405.
Quotations
I will try to show that far from being so semantically perverse, the term "heritabilityHeritability
The Heritability of a population is the proportion of observable differences between individuals that is due to genetic differences. Factors including genetics, environment and random chance can all contribute to the variation between individuals in their observable characteristics...
," when properly understood, actually accords quite well with our common-sense etiological ascriptions. (Heritability and Indirect Causation, p. 1004)